The State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) is out with a new strategy that aims to guide the use of the agency’s open source intelligence (OSINT) through new policies, capabilities, and training.
“The abundance and accessibility of OSINT has made it an essential source of data to enrich intelligence analysis, inform U.S. diplomats and policymakers, and enable intelligence diplomacy,” said Brett Holmgren, assistant secretary of State for intelligence and research. “In this new era, [INR] must harness the power and potential of OSINT to empower American diplomacy.”
The INR OSINT Strategy focuses on four strategic goals: developing sound governance and policy guidance regarding the use of OSINT; investing in OSINT capabilities and resources; strengthening OSINT training and analytic tradecraft; and deepening cooperation on OSINT with allies and partners, industry, academia, and other nongovernmental entities.
“Together, these actions will help INR realize the full potential of OSINT in an efficient, secure, and responsible manner while continuing to deliver expert insights to U.S. diplomats and State Department officials worldwide,” Holmgren said.
INR said its inaugural strategy is a “key part” of its modernization agenda and complements the broader Intelligence Community’s (IC) OSINT strategy released in March.
In its first goal, INR notes that recent advances within OSINT – including new technologies and policy empowering analysts to produce unclassified assessments – highlight the need for tradecraft standards, policies, and procedures to govern how INR acquires and uses OSINT.
To achieve this goal, INR said it will establish an OSINT Working Group to develop standard operating procedures and best practices for the use of open source information – including the lowest level of classification possible.
To invest in more OSINT capabilities, INR’s strategy points to making “any necessary technology enhancements” and pursuing tools for better information sharing.
The strategy states that “INR will need a dedicated, sustained training program to ensure the workforce can optimize its use of OSINT.” The strategy states that INR plans to facilitate in-house education for its workforce through leveraging existing IC and private sector offerings.
INR also said it will provide in-house training on the use of OSINT in unclassified documents and periodically provide refresher guidance on the safe, secure, ethical, and legal use of OSINT, including the safeguarding of privacy and civil liberties.
For its final goal, INR said it “must foster new and deepen existing partnerships in the IC, the Department of State, other U.S. Government agencies, industry, academia, and other nongovernmental entities to take advantage of existing open source data capabilities and resources, stay current on emerging technologies and tools, and adopt best practices for open source research and analysis.”
The strategy notes that INR will establish a process for collaborating with other bureaus in the Department of State to encourage information sharing, minimize redundancies, and nurture relationships between those bureaus and the IC. It also notes that INR will develop and administer a process for State Department clients to propose requirements for INR products, including unclassified OSINT-derived analysis.
